Defending champion England takes on a dangerous but unpredictable West Indies in the Twenty20 World Cup Super Eights second match here on Thursday.
In its first match England dismissed Afghanistan for 80 – the lowest score in this edition of the tournament.
Then, it went on to match Afghanistan’s score in the second game against India, in a horror of a batting display.
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But England would like to overcome the disappointment of recording its lowest-ever T20 total and return to winning ways against the West Indies.
Without a win
The West Indies goes into the game without a full game in the group stages — both its games were rain- shortened. It is the only team in the Super Eights without a win.
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But the West Indies is not unduly worried. It loves the relatively short boundaries at Pallekele and it has a good record against England. The West Indies has a few good spinners in its ranks led by Sunil Narine.
Does it bother Darren Sammy that the team does not have a win in the Group phase? “Bother?” he shot back. “The objective was to get into the Super Eights stage. Now we are here.” On England’s pathetic loss, he reminded everyone that England is the defending champion. England would not allow a defeat to play on its mind, he said.
“But yes, we would look to use the spinners against them. We have quality bowlers,” he added.
Does he find it surprising that Kevin Pietersen will be sitting in a television studio in the stadium and not playing against the West Indies?
A smiling Sammy thought for a moment and said, “To be honest, I really did not look at that. It’s not my problem. It’s not my concern.
“At the end of the day it all depends on the pitch. A batsman can hit a bowler, and the bowler can take five wickets [in the next five balls].”
Important thing
England captain Stuart Board said that the important thing was to get to the Super Eights stage.
“It’s all about now. This is where it starts. We are five games away from winning a World Cup but it’s important we don’t look at it like that.
“We break it up into small bits, starting with the West Indies tomorrow,” he said.
“I think it’s important that you learn from the mistakes you make,” he said when asked about the capitulation of his batsmen in the game against India.
“We have had guys who have played spin really well at times. It was losing the early wickets that stunned us, I think [in the game against India],” he added.
The teams (from):
West Indies: Darren Sammy (captain), Dwayne Bravo, Samuel Badree, Darren Bravo, Johnson Charles, Fidel Edwards, Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons and Dwayne Smith.
England: Stuart Broad (captain), Jonathan Bairstow, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Craig Kieswetter, Michael Lumb, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Graeme Swann and Luke Wright.
Umpires: Steve Davis and Asad Rauf. Third umpire: Aleem Dar.
Match referee: Javagal Srinath.